Chapter8
When Elise awoke again, she was disoriented for a few moments. Then, all of the memories came flooding back to her and her heart was pulled into a tug of war between sorrow and happiness. She called for the nurse and Mary showed up in her room a short time later.
“You’re still here?” Elise asked in surprise.
Mary chuckled softly. “I’m almost always here. I’ll go home in a while, then I’ll be back again later on today.” She paused a moment and then looked at Elise and said, “I’m not the only one who hasn’t gone anywhere. Your husband hasn’t left your daughter’s side since she was brought in there. He slept part of the night in the chair there, but the rest of the times he’s been awake, he has been talking to her and singing to her. I’m not sure what’s going on with you two, but I thought you should know that. He is truly dedicated to that little girl.”
Elise listened to her in surprise. “He sang to her?”
Mary nodded. “He did, a few times. I think he was telling her stories about some big bear waiting for her at home, too.”
Elise sat in silence, wondering at David’s actions and though she wouldn’t admit it to herself, it touched her that he was doing all that he was for their daughter.
Mary walked Elise into the NICU and she sat at a chair beside David in awkward silence for a little while, watching her daughter.
David didn’t want to further damage his situation with Elise, but he knew they couldn’t sit there beside each other, ignoring each other for ages while visiting their daughter. He took a deep breath and spoke softly to Elise, without taking his eyes off of the baby.
“We should come up with a name for her,” he said quietly.
Elise stiffened at hearing his voice, but she knew he was right. The silence was almost unbearable to her anyway.
“I like Sirena and Jaden,” Elise said in a quiet tone.
David thought about the names and smiled a little. “What if we use them both? Jaden Sirena?”
Elise almost smiled but stopped herself. “I think that would be beautiful.”
“That’s what we’ll do then,” he said.
It was quiet a while between them, and then Elise broke the silence. “Mary said you were singing to her.”
David pursed his lips and blushed in embarrassment. “I did sing to her, it’s true.”
Elise couldn’t hold back the slight upward curve at the corner of her mouth. “I didn’t know you could sing,” she said in a hushed tone.
He shook his head. “I can’t sing but Jaden doesn’t know that.”
Hearing her name spoken aloud for the first time touched both of their hearts and made her seem more real to them, and made them both feel like parents.
After another long silence, David said, “I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.”
Elise felt ire rise up in her and she lowered her brow. “This is no place to talk about it,” she said. “Jaden doesn’t need any negativity around her.”
“Then let’s go sit over there in the hall and talk about it, please.” David looked at her fully and implored her.
She shook her head. “I’m not here to talk to you and listen to your lies. I’m here to be with my daughter.”
David felt like she had gut checked him, but he knew he deserved it. “I realize that, but soon enough it will be time for her to leave here and then we’ll have to make decisions about what we are going to do. We need to talk. We’re here, so let’s talk. Please. We’ve got to work it out for her, however it ends up.”
Elise sighed heavily and nodded. She knew he was right. She owed it to her daughter to get the mess between her and David sorted out as quickly as possible. So she stood up and walked slowly toward the hall. David tried to reach out to help her but she swatted his hand away from her. They reached a corner of the hall that was lit by wide windows. They sat together.
David looked at Elise and shook his head, sorrow spilling out of his heart. “I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am that you found out the way that you did. I didn’t intend for any of it to happen the way that it has. I’m going to tell you the whole thing from the beginning and you can do what you like from there.”
Elise sighed. “Alright. I’m listening.”
He took a deep breath and sat up. “A little over a year ago, I was working on a few possible business deals and one of them was a take-over of a small company in Oakland. The company is owned by a man named Marvin Jackson. His company was in real financial trouble and he wanted to do a merger with me, allowing me to absorb his company into mine and keep on all of his employees. I wanted to buy him out and close down the company because the company was, and remains, dead in the water. It’s a financial ruin and it would be bad business on my part to take it on. I like taking on dead weight and expecting to swim far with it, it just doesn’t work. We discussed it over a few meetings and, at first, I was willing to buy him out and kill the company but he was dead set against it.
“He had started the company from scratch and he wanted to keep it going and keep all the employees. I understood what he wanted and why he wanted it, but it would have been such a bad decision on my part to do what he wanted me to do. He begged and pressured and even tried to bully me, even guilt me into it, but after looking at it from every angle, I decided that the best thing I could do would be to walk away from it. That was when he went over the edge and he fought with me, telling me that I was turning my back on him because he was black. He called me a racist, and came at me, attacking me. I fought with him and when the police arrived, they arrested us both.”
Elise stared at him with wide eyes, stunned at what he was telling her.
“He threatened to take me to court and I wasn’t sure if he would follow through with it or not until he filed paperwork for it. We knew he was going to take the case as public as he could to garner sympathy for himself, and try to get as much money from me as he could through a lawsuit. That would be the only way he could save the business he had created that meant so much to him. We knew going to court with him would mean that he would be slandering me all over kingdom come, telling the public that I was a racist, and that would be a truly devastating blow to me, to my company, to my life, to my public image. That was when Carlson decided the only way we could save my public image and convince the public that I wasn’t racist, was to take on a wife who was black, and to have a child with her. That’s when you came in.”
David took a deep breath and sighed. “It was a good plan in the beginning. Hire you on, marry you, have the baby, show the public and the courts that I am not a racist, and then when he had lost the case and gone his way, we could divorce and we would have a child to share. You’d be paid a good sum, and I would avoid the nightmare he was trying to put me through. But then I fell in love with you and everything changed.”
Elise felt her heart skip a beat. She watched him talking, and as he explained it all to her, everything became clearer to her, bit by bit.
He slumped down in his seat a little and gazed off into space as he spoke. “At first I didn’t want to tell you because we weren’t sure how it would go with his attempts to get it into court. And, we wanted to keep the lid on it as much as possible to prevent any backlash from it: tighter lid, smaller mess. That’s what Carlson said. He was right, to a point.
“Things progressed with you and Carlson kept filing all kinds of motions and things that delayed the date further and further, hoping that all the delays and court costs would be more than Jackson could afford and he’d drop the case against me and give it up. That dog went through his company and took up a collection from his employees for legal counsel and he found a black attorney that is bent on dragging me through the ringer and is representing him for next to nothing.
“He wants money from me, one way or another, and he isn’t going to let it go until he wins. Well, I didn’t say anything because we weren’t sure if we were actually ever going to get to court plus, because I had fallen in love with you, I must’ve known how deeply wrong everything was. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but more importantly, I didn’t want to admit it to you. That is, until the judge put it on the docket and now there’s a court date and the first thing Jackson’s attorney did was give a press conference about it, which is how you wound up getting hounded by the reporters. They had his side, so they wanted mine. It became a sensational story to print, and our situation went from not needing to let anyone know about it to everyone knowing about it and me losing you in the process.”
He looked up at her and saw her watching him with a sorrowful expression and tears in her eyes.
“I can’t lose you, Elise. I love you. You’re my wife in every single sense of the word, and that is our daughter lying in that machine in there, and we are a family. No matter how we found our way to each other, we are together and we can’t lose each other. You two are the most precious gifts I have ever had in my life. Please say that you understand what happened and that you will come home to me. Be my wife, Elise, always.” He looked at her with pleading loving eyes and her heart melted in her chest.
She reached for him and they held each other and wept into each other’s necks, bleeding out all of their sorrows until they were stilled and quiet. He let her go and looked at her and she closed her eyes and covered her face.
“I’m so ashamed,” she whispered.
He looked at her, stunned. “Whatever for?” he asked in confusion.
She raised her face from her hands and looked at him fully. “I was so upset that I went into labor. If I had just listened to you at the house and given you a chance to explain, I’d still be pregnant and Jaden wouldn’t be in that machine!” She began to sob and he stopped her.
“No! No, that’s not it at all. It wasn’t because you were upset. The doctor said it was just the way your pregnancy went. I asked him about that because I thought it was my fault for upsetting you. He told me that it just happened. It had nothing to do with what was going on between you and me. Please don’t think that because it’s just not true.”
Elise took a gasping breath and looked at him in wide-eyed relief. “It wasn’t my fault?” she asked breathlessly.
He shook his head and pulled her close to him. “No, honey, it wasn’t your fault at all.”
They comforted each other for a while and he looked at her as they rose to go back to Jaden. “Will you please come home with me when you leave here?” He felt like his heart was in his throat as he asked, but he had to know.
She nodded. “I will be glad to,” she said softly, reaching for him and hugging him warmly.
“Thank you, Elise, thank you so much. I love you. I’m never going to keep anything from you again, I promise.” He buried his face in her neck and breathed her in, holding her to him as if she was his only connection to life.
“I love you, too. Always,” she whispered to him. They held one another for a long moment and then walked back, hand-in-hand, to their daughter.
***
The days went by and Elise returned to the house and to David’s bed, sleeping beside him each night, glad that they were together. They went to see their daughter every day and spent almost all of their waking hours with her.
Being in the hospital with Jaden had kept them away from the press, and Carlson had deftly handled everything that had come at them, part of it, without them even knowing it. Elise was able to get to her shops to check on them and was relieved to find that they were running like well-oiled machines in her long absence. All of her staff had refused the press entrance to her businesses, and all of them had made or bought cards filled with well wishes for Jaden.
It wasn’t until she was out in the public a little more that Elise discovered what kind of damage Marvin Jackson and his attorney were trying to do to David. They accused him of attacking Marvin first, rather than the truth, which was that Marvin had actually attacked David. They published stories about it being racially motivated and they showed David as a hater of darker skinned people and small businesses.
They were doing everything they could to bury him alive, and the more that Elise saw, the angrier she got. It weighed on her mind and in her heart, and finally, she came up with an idea that she felt would be just the thing to help her husband and save him from the onslaught of Marvin Jackson and his attorney. She invited Carlson over for dinner and sat with him and David, discussing her idea.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought and I want to do everything I can to help David.” She smiled at him and covered his hand with hers tenderly.
Carlson looked at her with raised eyebrows and asked, “I take it you have something in mind?”
Elise nodded. “I do. I want to testify on the stand in court that David helped me with my small businesses, that we fell in love and were married and now have a child together. That would disprove everything Marvin Jackson and his lawyer are saying.”
A wide grin spread over Carlson’s face. “Elise, that’s a brilliant idea. I’m going to take you up on that. I’ll want to prepare you as a witness, so you’ll need some coaching time with me, when you can. I know you’re both busy at the hospital, but we’ll need to prepare you. This is going to be an ugly battle and you can’t go in unprepared. How’s Jaden doing, anyway? Any news on her progress?” he asked looking at them both.
Elise could not contain her happiness. “She can come home in two more weeks. She’s much better; she is getting stronger and bigger every day.”
Carlson nodded and tilted his head with a smile. “That’s what kids do.”
David looked at Elise and shook his head with a little grin on his face. “It means so much to me that you’re willing to testify for me. Thank you so much. You’re doing more for me than you could imagine, I really appreciate it.” He felt enormous gratitude at her thoughtfulness and loyalty to him. He could not believe how lucky he had been in finding such a good woman to be his wife, even though it had been as a business deal in the beginning. He didn’t know if it was fate, coincidence or just pure luck, but as he looked at her sitting there beside him, he couldn’t imagine his life without her.
Elise just shrugged her shoulders. “Well, we have to keep both of our businesses afloat. We’ve got a baby to bring home and take care of now!”
They laughed and enjoyed their meal together, discussing details of both Jaden’s homecoming and the court date that was getting closer every day.
***
Over the days that followed, Elise spent hours with Carlson and David as they prepared for court. Carlson ran through scenarios with her, practicing being on the stand and testifying. He threw every curve ball at her that he could imagine. After she learned how to answer, she felt as though she would be successful when she was called to speak on David’s behalf.
Every day, David and Elise evaded the press who were hounding them and they spent their free hours at the hospital with their daughter, bonding with her as best they could and waiting to take her home. Her health improved in small amounts every day. And, while she was improving, her parents finished up work on the nursery that adjoined their room.
Elise prepared her shops for her absence, making sure to hire and train new staff, and get extra chocolates made ahead of time. David settled as much as he could at his office. They both felt as ready as they ever would be when the day finally came to bring Jaden home from the hospital. They spent the first day with her at their home alone, and on the second day that she was there, they invited Sarah and other close friends and family over to meet their baby girl. It had been a long road and they had gone through so much to bring her into the world and their home. But it had finally happened, and for David and Elise, it felt like their dreams were coming true; their happiness knew no limits.
One week after Jaden was brought home, the red circled court date on their calendar came. Because they knew it would be beneficial, not only to Jaden to be with her parents, but also to draw sympathy from the court, Jaden accompanied David and Elise to the courtroom for the first day of the trial.
The courtroom was old and grand with wooden floors and railings, uncomfortable benches and tall narrow windows that looked out onto the city. The judge sat up on his pedestal and looked down at all of the people gathered before him while ceiling fans suspended by cables whirred softly overhead, doing nothing to freshen the air in the quiet room.
On the plaintiff's side sat Marvin Jackson, suited up and looking every bit a professional and respectable businessman. Beside him was his attorney, Dennis Beck, who had been calling all of the press conferences and slandering David as much as he could. Beck looked slick in his black suit and tie, with his hair carved backward from his face. He had dark cold eyes that looked like a black hole, just waiting to suck in everything he saw and keep it inside of himself forever.
Carlson sat at the defense table looking calm and unperturbed. He was in a navy blue tweed suit, wearing a lighter blue tie. It seemed to Elise that he looked approachable and welcoming, and she thought that the contrast between his look and that of Beck’s dark and almost sinister look was vastly different. Carlson did not write or flip through pages of notes, he did not look around nervously or lean over to David and whisper every few moments. He just sat there, still and quiet, looking ahead at nothing in particular, as if he might be waiting as a passenger on a train for his stop to come up.
David did not feel as calm as Carlson looked. He had felt ready to be in the courtroom until they had arrived, but the austerity of it dwindled his confidence into dust. He glanced around him subtly, taking it all in, memorizing every part of the room, thinking about what he was going to say when he was called to the stand, looking back at Elise (who sat behind Carlson and held Jaden in her arms). Sarah sat next to Elise, looking around the courtroom with narrowed eyes. Jaden slept quietly and peacefully with no notice of what was going on around her at all.
Elise gave David an encouraging smile and he appreciated it. Her eyes warmed the cold pit in his stomach and he took a deep breath and steadied himself, reminding himself that they had the truth on their side, and no matter what might be said by the plaintiff, they knew that they could prove the truth. It gave him a flutter of confidence until the bailiff asked all of them to rise and he announced the judge.
The chamber door opened and an older woman, with black and silver hair pulled up tightly into a bun on her head, swept through the doorway into the courtroom, her robe billowing out behind her. David felt his stomach drop to the floor and he reached his hand to the table in front of him to steady himself as he sat back down.
Court was called into session and Beck made his opening argument. He stated that his client had been in business discussions with David and the two of them had originally made verbal agreements that David would absorb Jackson’s company that would allow all of the employees to retain their jobs, current pay rates and benefits.
He then stated that David had begun to insist that if he were to continue with the arrangements they had already agreed upon, that some of the benefits would have to go, and Jackson acquiesced just to see the deal go through. David came back again in another meeting after that and insisted the pay for the workers be lowered or he would back out. Jackson again acquiesced so his employees could keep their jobs. Beck then stated that David had come back again and had insisted because he thought any company owned by a black man wouldn’t be successful no matter what they did, he would be breaking the company apart and dissolving it.
Indeed, Beck explained, David even told Jackson that he should be grateful that he was even willing to do that much for a black man, and when Jackson declined to go forward with the deal, David attacked him, calling him derogatory names meant to belittle and demean negroes, telling Jackson he had to take the deal. Beck stated that Jackson only fought back to defend himself, and Jackson had incurred several injuries, which had cost him a small fortune in medical bills, and his recovery had been a long and slow process, costing him time at his business.
He demanded restitution for not only the medical bills and the time away from work, as well as a litany of other incidental expenses, but all of the money David would have given him had he absorbed Jackson’s company, as he had promised to do in the beginning.
David was internally outraged that such slanderous lies were being spread about what had happened between them. He glared at Beck the entire time the man strutted around the courtroom, raising his voice and pointing his finger at David. Jackson tried to look as pathetic and abused as he possibly could while maintaining a professional demeanor. The judge watched all of it without any expression on her face whatsoever.
Beck took his seat and Carlson stood up, walking a few feet in front of the table he had been sitting at with David. His demeanor was calm, cool and collected. He explained to the judge in a steady and even voice that David and Jackson had been in discussions about a merger in which David’s company would absorb Jackson’s, that much was true.
However, after a careful examination by both David and his business team, it was decided that such a move would not be financially sound and David retracted his offer and proposed a modified offer in which Jackson’s company would be bought out at a much lower amount of money, all of the employees let go and the company dissolved.
He stated that when Jackson heard David’s offer, he went berserk, attacked David in his office and that Jackson’s injuries were no more severe than a blackened eye and a fat lip. He further commented that while David had not addressed the media or public in any way about the events of the meeting and the fallout that occurred thereafter, Jackson had gone to extreme lengths to slander his client, and though monetary restitution was not being sought by David, he was demanding a public admission of statements of falsehood and an apology.
Again, the judge’s face was perfectly stoic and impenetrable. Jackson made loud scoffing noises at the close of Carlson’s statement but no one paid him any attention over it.
Beck called Jackson to the stand and began to question him about his business. He spoke about how he had built the business up from scratch and that it meant everything to him. He described how his employees were like family to him and he was willing to do anything to keep the business and the employees from going under. He made himself out to be the martyr, practically giving away his precious small business to a greedy corporation who would do nothing but dismantle it, and he himself taking physical punishment from the cold-hearted head of that corporation because of his color and his vulnerability in needing help to save his company from going under. Beck sat down.
Carlson stood up and walked toward him, nearing the stand at a close proximity and looking directly into Jackson’s eyes with a steely gaze.
“Mr. Jackson, you’ve said your business is the most important thing to you and that your employees are like family to you. Would you do anything to keep your most valued investment, that is your business and your employees, from being forfeited?”
Jackson hesitated and looked at his attorney and his attorney nodded to him. Carlson saw Jackson’s move and didn’t turn to look at Beck, but rather, leaned forward slightly and said, “Mr. Jackson, please answer the question.”
“Yes, I guess I would,” he said shortly.
Carlson kept his gaze steady on Jackson. “You’d do anything to protect your business and keep it afloat?” he asked.
Jackson nodded. Carlson said, “Please answer the question out loud, Mr. Jackson.”
“Yes,” Jackson replied.
“Would you please explain to the court what your understanding of your business agreements were with my client?” Carlson continued to watch him, unwaveringly.
Jackson sat up a little bit. “I thought he was going to absorb my company, like we agreed, and then he changed his mind and told me that since I was a nig-”
The judge, who had been watching him speak from her lofty seat, stopped him immediately. “Mr. Jackson, please refrain from using that kind of language in my courtroom. I do not tolerate it.”
Jackson looked up at her and nodded. “…uh, since I was black, he thought my company wasn’t worth anything and I better just be grateful that he was willing to give me any money at all. But he didn’t offer me a tenth of what the company was worth, and I refused him, so then he attacked me.”
Carlson nodded slightly and pursed his lips. “Mr. Jackson, what value did you initially tell my client your company was worth?”
Beck stood up and shouted, “Objection! He’s leading the witness!”
The judge turned her head toward him. “Overruled.”
Jackson thought for a moment. “I told him it was worth $800,000.”
Carlson continued to gaze at him. “How much did my client offer you to dissolve your company?”
Jackson looked over Carlson’s shoulder and glared at David. “He offered me $500,000 and told me I better be grateful to take it.”
Carlson’s gaze remained on Jackson, who looked back at him. “Did you include the debts your company had incurred when you told him the value was $800,000?”
“Yes,” Jackson said a little unconvincingly.
Carlson narrowed his eyes at him. “All of the debts, Mr. Jackson?”
“I believe so,” Jackson said, sinking down in his chair slightly.
“Including the third mortgage you took out on your business location one week before you met with my client?” Carlson’s voice grew slightly louder.
Beck jumped to his feet again. “Objection! Fruit of the poisonous tree! That is illegally obtained information!”
The judge looked at Beck and raised her voice. “Overruled! Witness, answer the question.”
Jackson squirmed a little in his seat. “I… I don’t recall if I told him that.”
“You don’t recall if you told him about a major loan that you took out on your failing business one week before you met with my client to ask him to merge your company with his?” Carlson’s voice was firm and slightly raised.
Beck leapt to his feet again and punched his fist into the air. “Objection! He’s leading the witness!”
The judge turned fully to look at Beck. “Mr. Beck, your objection is overruled, please limit yourself!” She turned back to Carlson and Jackson. “Mr. Jackson, answer the question, please.”
Jackson shook his head. “I don’t recall.”
Carlson looked at him silently for a moment and then walked over to his desk and picked up a stapled packet, walked over to Jackson and handed it to him.
“Do you recognize this financial statement as the same financial statement that you provided to my client upon your first meeting with him, one week after you closed your loan with the bank?” Carlson stood a few feet from the witness stand, making it necessary for Jackson to speak up when he answered him.
“Yes. That’s what I gave him,” Jackson said in a low tone.
“Does it include information about the loan you had taken out one week before you gave my client that document?” Carlson’s voice went up in volume a little.
Jackson flipped through the pages. “I guess it doesn’t. I don’t think I had the loan documents yet to put those numbers into this statement.”
“Didn’t you leave the bank with loan documents when you closed the loan with them a week before your meeting?” Carlson took a step back, making Jackson speak up a little louder.
Jackson looked at his attorney with a worried expression. “I… uh… I gave those documents to my finance department and I didn’t have them for this statement.”
Carlson tilted his head slightly, as if he might possibly be confused about something. “Who runs your finance department, Mr. Jackson? Please remember that you are under oath and perjury is a punishable offense.”
Jackson’s eyes grew wide and he mumbled an indiscernible answer.
Carlson turned his head slightly “I’m sorry, what was that?” he asked.
“I said I do,” Jackson repeated, looking helplessly at his attorney.
“You run your finance department, and you gave yourself the loan closing documents. Who prepared that financial statement in your hand, Mr. Jackson?”
“I did,” he said quietly.
“What is the date on that document?” Carlson asked, sliding his hands into his pockets.
“It’s dated the day before our meeting,” Jackson answered.
“Just so we all understand what you’re saying, you went to the bank a week before your meeting, you left the bank with your loan closing documents, then a week later, you prepared that financial statement in your hand, leaving out the information about the loan you had just closed on, and you provided my client with incomplete financial information, asking him for more money than your company was truly valued at?”
Beck stood up and yelled, “Objection! He’s badgering the witness!”
The judge looked sharply over the top of her glasses at Beck. “Overruled.”
Jackson stuttered and stumbled over his answer. “It wasn’t like that. You’re making it sound like… I didn’t do that on purpose!” He raised his voice in irritation.
Carlson took the document from Jackson and handed it to the judge. “Defense would like to submit exhibit A, financial statements provided by Mr. Jackson to my client at their meeting.”
He then walked back to the desk and picked up another set of papers and walked over to the witness stand again. “Mr. Jackson, do you agree that this is a true copy of the loan documents that you received from your bank and signed by you one week before the meeting with my client?”
Jackson flipped through the pages and handed them back to Carlson with a disgusted look on his face. “Yes,” he answered with a nasty sneer.
Carlson handed the documents to the judge. “Defense wishes to submit exhibit B, loan documents received by Mr. Jackson that were withheld from my client at their initial meeting.” Carlson then returned to stand a few feet in front of the witness stand.
Jackson looked miserable.
“Mr. Jackson,” Carlson continued. “Where was the first meeting between you and my client held?”
“We met at his office,” Jackson said with a grumble.
Carlson nodded again. “Where were all of the subsequent meetings with my client held?”
“They were at his office,” Jackson answered.
“How many meetings did you have with my client?” Carlson asked.
Jackson answered right away. “We had four meetings.”
“Were there any meetings, at any time, that were not held in my client’s office?” Carlson continued, his eyes set unmoving on Jackson.
Jackson shook his head. “No.”
Carlson lifted his hand to his chin and rubbed his chin as if he was in deep thought. “You’ve stated that my client physically attacked you in your last meeting which you just stated was in his office, is that right, Mr. Jackson?” Carlson asked, looking sharply at him.
Jackson nodded and shouted out passionately, “Yes, he did! He called me all sorts of prejudiced names and he came at me, hitting me, beating me and telling me I had to take the deal he was offering me! He hates blacks and he hates small businesses! He just wants to take over everything with his corporation!”
Carlson nodded and was quiet for a moment, looking at Jackson, and then he said calmly, “Mr. Jackson, are you aware that every part of my client’s offices are constantly monitored by video surveillance?”
Jackson stared at Carlson. He answered in a quieter tone. “No, I wasn’t aware of that.”
Carlson walked over to the table where David was sitting and picked up a slim case with a DVD in it, then he turned and walked over to the judge, handing it to her.
“Defense would like to submit exhibit C, this is a DVD provided by the security department at my client’s offices. There are signed affidavits by each member of security who interacted with those security cameras and tapes at all times, as well as by the head of security for the building. The DVD will show the court that it was, in fact, Mr. Jackson who attacked my client first and that it was my client who defended himself. In the course of his defense, he gave Mr. Jackson a blackened eye and a swollen lip, which were the only injuries sustained by Mr. Jackson at the hands of my client.”
Carlson turned and looked at Jackson and raised his voice slightly. “Mr. Jackson, you stated at the beginning of your testimony that you would do anything to save your company from going under and becoming bankrupt. Does that include withholding vital financial information from possible investors in your company and lying to the police, the public, and the courts about an attack that you state you were a victim of in order to induce the courts to award you funds that may save your business?”
Jackson looked as if he had no idea what to say. He looked at his attorney and Beck shook his head almost imperceptibly.
“No,” Jackson said with uncertainty.
“No further questions,” Carlson stated, and returned to his seat.